News Analysis

Why Is Gerry D’Avolio Advising Catholic Church to Stick with Speaker Finneran?

By MassNews Staff

     Why is the lobbyist for the Catholic Church, Gerry D’Avolio, advising Archbishop O’Malley to continue following Speaker Finneran --- even though it’s painfully obvious that Finneran is working heart-and-soul for the Democratic plan of imposing homosexual “marriage?”

     Finneran continues to block a vote on Removing Judge Marshall and the three other judges who illegally forced “homosexual marriage” on the state --- even though a vote of the 160 House members is required by the state Constitution. (Marshall publicly assured the homosexual plaintiffs in 1999 that they would be successful if they filed a suit in the Massachusetts courts,)

     “This is particularly difficult to understand in that Emile Goguen (D-Fitchburg), a devout Catholic, is leading the battle to Remove Judge Marshall,” says Sally Pawlick. “He’s getting enthusiastic support from priests and lay people everywhere he goes, but the hierarchy is doing nothing to help those people in their fight to remove homosexual ‘marriage.’ Emile will undoubtedly succeed in getting Finneran to act, with or without their support, because the citizens are very angry and energized, but a little encouragement would certainly be appreciated.

     “Bishop O’Malley was very active in the failed effort to pass Amendments earlier this year, but when that ended in March, he turned the matter over to Gerry, who now is making all the decisions on what the Church does in this momentous and historic matter. Everyone reports to him.”

      Pawlick says that D’Avolio was the chief lobbyist for Mass. Citizens in 2002, along with Ron Crews from Mass. Family Institute, when the legislature violated the state Constitution and refused to vote on the Protection of Marriage Amendment. She says they were told then that Finneran had worked very hard to obtain a vote.

     “It was difficult to understand how so many legislators could have voted to break the Constitution in 2002 if Finneran was working diligently to get the vote as required by the Constitution, but we were totally new to politics and we accepted the wisdom of the experienced D’Avolio. But it’s obvious now that this scenario just doesn’t make sense.

     “Gerry has told several people that he is not working to help Goguen this year because the measure will not pass. But, even if that were true, which it is not, it would not answer the main question: Why is Gerry continuing to work so closely with Finneran, who is attempting to violate the Constitution again, when it is obvious that Finneran is the leader of the Democratic plan to impose homosexual ‘marriage’ on the state?”

     D’Avolio heads a separate organization, with a four-person staff, known as the Catholic Conference with offices on Staniford Street, near the Fleet Center.